Like Moths Drawn To A Flame Are We
by The Seventh L
Summary: Set after The Three Doctors. Omega has left an impression upon three travelers.


i. the scientist.

Dr Tyler finds himself back at the swampy lakeside in a flash; one second he's in a world entirely composed of anti-matter, next he's ankle-deep in moss and dirt. A goose who had been skimming over the waters honks at him before lifting its wings and flying away. He watches the bird with visible fascination; he reaches out and, in the still clear air, traces a pattern of flight and imagines the line controlling the bird, bending it to its mind.

It's not a bad idea, willpower. Until some loon comes along and mucks it up for everyone else.

He wakes up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat. The dream that makes Dr Tyler pop out of bed so suddenly is this: running through a piece of scenery quite like a quarry. He's panting and breathless, his legs feeling like they are literally on fire. And then – he comes to a sudden drop in the ground which leads into literal nothingness, a wall of unending black placed smack in front of him. It's daunting and at the same time frightening.

'What is this?' he dream-thinks, curious, and a booming voice answers him in my head, _'A part of the world I have not yet created. And soon I will un-create you.' _With that, the wall twists and bends to allow the grip of a large inky hand to draw out and come closer to Dr Tyler's quivering body, ready to grasp him and make him no more – and that is what wakes him up at half past midnight, his body feeling like a ghost had just stepped through him.

ii. the soldier

Sergeant Benton is on patrol with the other boys soon after returning from the world of anti-matter. He finds his UNIT-issued walkie talkie a great comfort, although he'll never admit to to the others. Isolation from the rest of the world, where no one can talk to you or reach you – he'll never go back, willingly or otherwise. For a couple of days, the very idea of space travel unnerves Benton and the other soldiers who were at the base during the incident – or, as in Benton's case, made ithe jump/i between worlds.

That is, until the Doctor, his TARDIS good and ready for travel, takes Jo to Metebelis Three on holiday and leaves Benton behind. _'He didn't even ask' _Benton thinks as he spends the next day sulking inwardly. _'Not that I would have said yes, but it's the thought that counts.'_

If the man in the mask with the loud voice ever enters his mind again, it's later, when he and the Doctor find themselves fighting BOSS' maggots and flying beasties. A megalomaniac super-brain with no face – it rings familiar to Benton, but he's too busy driving Bessie to make the connection.

It's much, much later, when Benton finds himself fighting an android looking exactly like himself, he can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing. Here he was, punching a double of himself on the nose, grabbing the folds of the exact same fabric as his uniform in preparation of flipping the robot over his shoulder. Who needs a TARDIS when the universe is coming to visit him at his front door?

iii. the spy

Jo Grant is watching the snow fall over the English countryside, the window partially fogged by the cold and the steam coming off her mug of tea. She hears the Doctor tinkering behind her at his work bench, fixing another random gadget he had pulled out of the TARDIS and was still working on a good hour later. She has attempted to help, only to be told it is "highly advanced Gallifreyan technology" and the best thing she could do was make a strong pot of tea for him.

So she did, and ends up watching the weather outside while listening to the Doctor gripe about what a piece of junk whatever it was was. His tiny snippets of rants brought a smile to her mouth as she takes a sip of tea. And yet -- the room did not seem lively as it did only days ago, when there were not one but _two_ Time Lords, bickering and thinking and scheming and being undeniably brilliant, while the Brigadier looked on, flabbergasted and still grappling with the idea of more than one Doctor. He would get used to it -- eventually. In Jo's opinion, Time Lords were all so lovely to be with, a clever and courageous lot when they weren't being bureaucratic sticks in the proverbial mud.

Except for him. Jo feels a shiver move down her spine, one that even the heat of her tea could not counteract. He was a horrible, dictatorial excuse of a man, and when he took off his helmet . . . She quickly gulped down the remnants of her tea, paying no mind to the small granules of leaves that followed with it. That _thing_, creature, whatever, had tried to take her Doctor, suck him into a permanent residence in the world of anti-matter, all because he was alone and quite mad. For a horrible moment, waiting for the TARDIS to come back, she had felt like he would never come back, and it is a possibility that still haunts her, even when the Doctor is only a few strides of floor away.

"Jo?" The Doctor's voice breaks through her thoughts, and Jo turns to see him standing with his hands on the whats-a-ma-callit, his jeweler's loupe screwed firmly in place over one eye. "Would you care to hand me my sonic screwdriver? I seem to have left it in my other jacket." He looks rather bashful as he admits this, and its a color that compliments him well.

He watches Jo root around in the pocket of his jacket hanging on the back of the door until she finally grabs a hold of his screwdriver and hands it back to him with a bit of a flourish, as if she knows it will be one of the few times she'll be able to hold it (she seems she'd rather use a real screwdriver than one of the sonic variety). They end up bickering playfully over his work and his old habits, which include misplacing important objects.

Yes, she decides at that moment, she'll never leave the Doctor's side. Even if it seems selfish, Jo will stay by the Doctor's side forever, travel with him in space, touch the stars and feel the ground of strange lands with him. He needs someone by his side to make sure he's safe, to hand him his instruments and tell him when he's being childish or silly. He needs someone to keep him company, so he'll never have to be lonely.

"What are you smiling at, dear girl?" and Jo has to hide the smile that has formed with the palm of her hand. But her eyes sparkle and betray the truth inside: she's the Doctor's companion truly now, through and through.


End file.
